Heelpiece.



No. 845,809. PATENTED MARYS; 1907. B. NATHAN & H. COHEN.

HBBLPIEGB.v Inna-p101: gum MAR. 6, 1906.

M R wAay UNI ED sTATEs PATENT, bFFIoE.

BENJAMIN NATHAN AND HYMAN COHEN, or EW YORK, N. Y, ASSIGNORS TO THE NATHAN ANKLET SUPPORT COMPANY, NEW YORK, N. Y., A

CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

HEELPIEQE'.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 5, 1907.

To 00% w/wm (It may concern.-

Be it known that we, BENJAMIN NATHAN, a citizen of the United States, and HYMAN 00- HEN, a citizen of the Russian Empire, each residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Heelpieces, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to heelpieces-for in-- ner soles for boots and shoes; and its novelty consists in the construction and adaptation of the parts, as will be more fully hereinafter pointed out.

The purpose of the invention is to provide means for varyingthe thickness of the sole of.

the shoe at its heel and making suchvariation either uniform across theentire width of the sole or greater at one side of the sole than at the other.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a top plan view of a heelpiece embodying our invention, the continuation of the inner sole toward the front of the foot being indicated by dotted lines Fig. 2 is a rear elevation, and big. 3 is a side elevation, of the same. Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the plane of the line t 4 in Big. 1. .l ig. 5 is a section similar to that shown in Fig. 4, but with one of the wedges rotated over and'resting upon the other wedge. that shown in Fig. 4, but exhibiting the construction when two pairs of wedges are employed together. I ig. 7 is a perspective of the heelpiece when two airs of wedges are employed, the wedges o' the upper pair being smaller than those of the lower pair and the protecting layer being shownhfted up on its hinge In a general way the present invention may be described as comprising a body member, which is hereinafter termed a positioning layer, and which is preferably the lower layer of the device. To this body member or positioning layer there is hingedly connected the inner edge or edges of one or, preferably, a plurality of filling members or wedges, which by supporting the foot at places otherwise unsupported renders the shoe more comfortable to the wearer and corrects the tendency to impose greater wear .at' one place than another.

Fig. 6 is a similar section to- The Wedge or wedges are adapted to be turned relatively to the body member or positioning layer to one or the other side of.

the center thereof, so as to adapt the device to different conditions of use-that is to say, to support that side of the foot which is nec essary to correct the peculiarity in the form of foot or mode of walk of the particular user. While it will not be a departure from the scope of the invention to employ a single wedge, yet, as already stated, a plurality of the same are preferably employed, as the range of usefulness of the device is thereby widely extended, as hereinafter brought out. It further is advantageous to employ as an additional element a levelingpiece' of form corresponding to the wedges and adapted to engage the same.

The invention is preferably embodied in a heelpiece, as herein shown.

In the drawings, 10 is the lower or positioning layer of the heelpiece. It may be of leather, cloth, canvas, buckram, or any other suit-able material. Its purpose is to support and locate accurately the position of the other parts.

20 is the cushioning or protecting layer of the heelpiece. lt is preferably made of felt, soft rubber, or some similar soft elastic material and is of an appreciable thickness as compared With the thickness of the wedges hereinafter mentioned.

Above the cushioning or protecting layer is preferably secured a top layer 21, which is best made of soft leather. It is secured to the layer 20 by means of lines ,of stitching 22 and 23. The latter row of stitches 25 is transverse to the longitudinal'axis of the shoe and is preferably extended down through the layer 10 to form a hinge around which the.

double layer formed ot the cushion 20 and the top leather piece 21 is adapted to rotate as a hinge.

Intermediate the layers 10 and 20 are placed the wedges. Each wedge consists of a piece 30 of soft elastic material, such as rubber, with its thin edge 31 at the middle of the soles and its thick edge 32 at the side thereof. The thin edges are united to a iongitudinally-piaced flat strip '33 of fabric,

preferably tape, and this is in turn secured to .the positioning layer 10 by any suitable ously referred to as the positioning layer means, as the rows. of stitching 34,-, which secure it permanently, in place. A loop of similair tape under which the fiat piece 33 can be slipped may be employed, and this will secure the pair of wedges in place temporarily "and fdetachably, It is obvious that the pair of Wedges united by thestrip 33 may be secured as well to the cushioning layer as. to the positioning layer 10. H such construction is employed, the cushioning layer becomes also a positioning layer and the part previmay be omitted. v Above the layer 10 and under the wedges 30 is a leveling layer 40, made of leather or other suitable material and adapted to fill the space'betwe en the thin portion of the wedges and the positioning layer 10, so as to raise the upper surface of the wedges to the same horizontal plane atlthe middle of the sole. This layer 40 is consequently made mitted' to remain each .fiat against the positioning layer 10, they act simply as a cushion under the heel and are adapted to raise theheel of the wearer of the boot or shoe in which they are placed slightly higher than usual. If, however, one of the wedges 30 is caused to be rotated upon the flat strip 33, to which its inner edge is secured, as a hinge, and is made to rest upon the upper surface of the other wedge of the pair, then the wearer is elevated or raised at one side of his heel more than at the other, thus throwing over the foot and counteracting the tendency to wear down the h el of the shoe onone side. The same effect s that described in the last paragraph is secured if only one of the pairs of wedges is'employed and inserted between the positioning and the cushioning layers, although, of course, in that case the wearer will be raised a shorter distance.

In cases where agreater adaptability and range of use is required we provide the heelpiece with a second pair of wedges 5O 50,,each' secured at their inner edges to a strip of tape 51 and adapted to pass under a retainingtape 52, secured either to the positioning layer 10 or to the cushioning layer 20, as may be most convenient. This supplemental pair of wedges may be used flat and side byside, or one may be made torotate around the strip 51 as" a hinge and caused to rest on top of the-other.

It will of course be understood that any improved method of securing the different layers above described and the wedges in their respective positions may be employed, provided the .functions ascribed to them gasses- 1 are maintained. The heelpieee may also be 'used' as the heel end. or terminal piece of an inner sole of which it forms only apart. which inner sole may otherwise be of any ape proved fonn-or construction. I

-The principle of'employing'the' single or double wedges, the leveling-piece, and ,the

means of securing the wedges. at their thin edges along a strip adapted to form a hinge on which the wedge may rotate, may'be adapted to the use ofthese wedges at other places alon the sole for instance, under the ball of the oot or the arch-in order to vary;

the thickness of the sole at such points.

What we claim as new is- I. A deviceof the kind described, comprising a body member and a filling member,

said filling member adapted to form a sup port for the foot and hingedly connected at one side with the body member and adapted to be turned relatively to the body member to either side of the center thereof.

. 2. A device of the kind described, comprising a plurality of layers arranged to form a pocket between them, and afilling member adapted to form a support for the foot, said filling member arranged in said pocket and hingedly connected with one of said layers and adapted to be turned pivotally in said pocket to one or the other side thereof.

3. A device of the kind described, comprise ing a body member and a plurality of wedges adapted to form supports for the foot and connected with the body member, said wedges being movable to one or'the other side relatively to each other and-to the body member.

4. A device of the kinddescribed, comprising a body member, a plurality of wedges adapted to form supports for the ,foot and movable relatively to each other and to the body member and a leveling means for the wedges.

5. A device of the kind described, comprising a body member and a plurality of wedges adapted to form sup orts for the foot, said wedges being pivotaily connected, with the body member along their adjacent edges and adapted to be turned pivotally relatively to the body member and each other so as to be superimposed or to lie side by side.

7 6. I A deviceof the kind described, comprising a body member, a plurality of wedges adapted to form supportsfor the foot, said wedges being pivotally connected with the body member along their adjacent edges and adapted to be turned pivotally relatively to the body member and each other so as to be superimposed or to lie side by side,- and a leveling means adapted to said wedges.

7. A device of the kind described, comprising a plurality of layers arranged to form a pocket between them, and a plurality of wedges mounted in saidpocket and adapted thin edges are joined together and.detach--.

to fomnsnp'portsfcr the'ioct, said wedges being hingedly connected with one .06 said turned relatively, in said pocket, to; ne r' the other side thereof, and a leveling adapted to said wedges.

-9. A device of the kind described, having a pocket provided with two wedges,-each of which has its thin edge at the middle and its thick edge at, the side of the sole and provided with a common strip of material to which said wedges are-secured.

10'. A device of the kindvdescribed, having :a pocket provided with-two wedges, each of which has its thin edge at the middle and its thick edge at the side of the sole and provided with a common strip of material to which said wedges are secured, and which strip is fastened to the lower layer of the sole to form a hinge on which the wedges may'turn.

11. A device of the kind described, having a pocket provided'with two wedges,; each of which has its thin edge at the middle and its thick edge at the side of the sole and provided with a common strip of material to which;

said wedgesare secured and with a flat band under which such strip is adapted to pass.

12. A device of the kind described, having a pocket provided with two wedges, each of which has its thin edge at the middle and its thick edge at the side of the sole, and which ably secured in place by a flat band. V

13. A device of the kind described, comprising a positioninglayer and a cushioning layer between which is placed a wedge having its thin edge near the center line of the sole and its thick edge at the side;

14. A device ofthekind described, comprising a positioning layer anda cushioning ayer between which isplaced' a wedge having its thin edge near the center line of the sole and its thick edge at the side and provided with a-leveling-piece;

15. A device of the kind described, cornprisin a positioning layer and a cushioning ayer etween which are placed two wedges having their thin edges joined at the center and provided with a leveling-piece under each 16. A device ofthe kind described, coinprising a positioning layer and a cushioning layer between which are placeda plurality of wedge's in pairs, each having( heir thin'edges at the center and their thic sidevof the sole. v

17. A device of the kind described, comprising apositioning layer and a cushioning layer between which are placed a plurality of wedges in pairs each having their thin edges edges near the at the center and their thick edges nearthe side of the sole, and each of which wedgesare rotatable around its thin edge [as a hinge.

18. A device of the kind described, comrising a positioning layer and a cushioning ayer between which are placed a plurality of wedges in pairs, each having their thin edges atthe center and their thick edges near the side of the sole, the lowermost-pair being permanently secured and the upper pair detachably secured in position.

"19.. A device ofv the kind described, com prising a positioning layer and a cushioning layer between which are placed a plurality of wedges in pairs, each having their thin edges .at the center and their thick edges near the side of the sole, a leveling-piece being provided' under the lowermost pair of Wedges.

In testimony whereof we afiiX our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

' BENJAMIN NATHAN.

HYMAN COHEN Witnesses:

WILLIAM, R. BAIRD, ALAN MoDoNNELL. 

